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Sylanwood, Barcemanca: Apartments, Time: 11:00 PM
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On the 5th floor of the apartments, it was untreated with mold growing everywhere. Doors were opening ajar with abandoned furniture littered everywhere.
Bada, James, and Mianne were following Morenica as she led them to her apartment.
"Jesus, sorry if I am becoming a stuttering parrot, but this place already gives me the creeps..." Mianne stated. Everything they'd been seeing on this mission had been the weirdest first time.
"Oh, relax! It's not that bad!" Morenica waved her hand in an assuring movement. What's the worst thing that could happen?
Suddenly, a giant spider crawled around, entering another room, sending all of them into a state of shock, with Mianne about to explode out of fear.
"So, are we not gonna...?" James was ready to get out of here now. Crazy old people ghost? Giant spider? Is there some kind of monster chasing them down? Yeah, this is too much for him.
"Well! Here we are!" Morenica stated as she rummaged through her pocket to find the key to her room labeled as "1337". She found her key, and they all entered her room to quickly close off and relax for a bit.
"Sorry if it's a little messy..." Morenica stated, with Bada's eyes widening at the sight of her room.
It was very messy with snacks, dirty plates, and an overflowing bin. In the corner, a bunch of empty booze bottles were stacked. The only thing left untouched was the couch with a trail of trash indicating that Morenica left.
"Bada, I know what you're trying to do," Morenica warned him as Bada quickly looked for cleaning equipment in the apartment.
"I already used all of them for parts; you won't fix this place!" Morenica yelled out. Bada fidgeted with something on his gauntlet, pressing the button to materialize a broom.
"Stop!" Morenica tackled him down, trying to stop him from cleaning her messy apartment.
"You! You need to change your lifestyle!" Bada stated, attempting to at least sweep one of them, but Morenica grabbed the broom and threw it out of the window.
James decided to ask, "Why do you even live in this town? Didn't you hear about people disappearing from this town as well? Unless..." This woman is weird, this whole thing is just weird.
"Well, I moved here a year ago because the rent was cheap." Morenica was hiding another reason, causing Bada to clear his throat to explain more.
"Okay! I spent all of my money on gambling and booze, and now I have to live in this shithole!" Morenica cried. She hates living here. The people are bizarre, her landlord stinks, and this monster is chasing her around.
"But not anymore, once I get one more drop of eldritch energy!" Morenica stated as she moved to her workbench, opening up her drawer to reveal a white futuristic tablet with blue circular lines going in each direction.
"I got this deal from some dark suit-coated guys to make some upgrades for something? I don't know; they weren't being specific on what to do with it." Morenica rubbed the back of her head, confused at how they even found her in the first place.
"Also, why are you all even here? You know that thing is out there to get people, right?" Morenica decided to ask her question. She was confused at seeing Bada; he should've been cuddling with Freya right now.
"Father directed me to come here with my intern because this town has been disappearing," Bada stated, sitting down on the couch and feeling how hard it was.
"So, explain to us about that thing..." Mianne asked, wanting to know what caused the town's disappearance.
Morenica scratched her head, leaning back against her cluttered workbench. "You mean the creepy humming freakshow that's been lurking around here? Wish I could tell ya more."
She rifled through scattered papers and engine parts, fishing out an oil-stained manual. "Found this Translation Guide in the library before it shut down. Has some scattered lore."
Flipping through wrinkled pages, she tapped a section titled 'Legendary Horrors.' "Here's the little I know about the thing - call it a 'False Hydra.' Some kind of shapeshifter monster that feeds on memories and fear."
She skimmed the passage, brows furrowing. "Says it sings hypnotic melodies that make you forget its existence...can look like someone you know to get close then - BAM!" She clapped loudly, making them jump. "Next thing you know, you're dinner."
Tossing the book aside, she rifled for a bottle instead. "Explains why this place is a ghost town. It's picking off stragglers one by one." She took a long swig of dubious liquid courage.
Bada's expression had grown increasingly grim hearing the scattered details. "A creature that erases its existence from the minds of victims...insidious indeed." He glanced uneasily out the boarded window as if it might creep up on them now.
"So what do we do if we spot it?" James asked nervously. "Yell 'Hey ugly!' real loud?"
Morenica snorted. "Good luck with that kid. Hard to sound alarm on something you instantly forget about." She shook her head, downing another swig. "Just steer clear of any creepy humming and count your friends constantly. Maybe you'll stay lucky."
She saluted them with the bottle drily. "I'll stick to liquid courage and upgrading tech for mysterious strangers. Safest option these days..."
There wasn't much to go on, but now they at least had a name and vague attributes to pin to the nameless horror plaguing this town.
Bada decided to ask Morenci the question he had been wondering, "This deal you mentioned, with strangers seeking unknown upgrades," he began carefully. "Did they give any indication of what organization they represented? Or their intentions with such technology?"
Morenica gulped down another mouthful from her bottle before shaking her head. "Nope, they were vague as hell. Just flashed a lotta gold upfront and said opportunities like this don't come often for washed-up tinkerers."
She rummaged in the debris on her workbench, retrieving a thin silver briefcase. "Check out the haul though!"
Popping it open revealed rows of glinting coins and gemstones. James' and Mianne's jaws dropped at the small fortune.
"Big payday for just delivering some modified trinket to Tarrabria, huh?" Morenica chuckled. "Once it's finished, I'll finally be riding high again!"
But Bada only grew more troubled. That much wealth for trivial delivery meant darker motives were surely driving this exchange.
"And you've no notion what purpose your adjustments may serve?" he pressed. "With no oversight, disastrous outcomes could-"
Morenica held up a hand. "Hey man, I don't ask questions when gold's involved! I just tune up the tech and cash out." She took another nonchalant swig. "So either help me spruce this baby up or quit distracting me from early retirement."
Bada's brow creased anxiously. Meddling with unknown forces was playing with fire, particularly for one guided solely by greed.
"I can help out." James pulled out two of his runes. "You said you need one more, right?" James was willing to let her take a tiny bit of energy from these.
"Ah, thank you! I am going to be rich after this!" Morenica exclaimed as she grabbed the SwampPurger runes and injected them with some cable.
It extracted a small amount of energy from them, injecting the white tablet upgrade. It started to glow in blue before finally completing.
"Woo, the baby's finally complete. You guys mind if you escort me to Tarrabria?" Morenica stated, finally able to get the hell out of there.
"Of course, we will call it for today. It's about to be midnight." Bada stated, with James and Mianne not minding about going back.
"Great! Let's move it, ladies!" Morenica grabbed her suitcase of hard cash and gold, with the ancient tablet in the other suitcase, and all of them left.
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